The 4-H USDA Robotics Digital Badges initiative is a collaborative badging effort between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 4-H National Headquarters/USDA, and Auburn University. Over the course of badge system development, Auburn University focused on the project’s technical side, while University of Nebraska-Lincoln played a role in developing assessments and curriculum. 4-H described, “The Nebraska faculty has developed an outstanding suite of robotics learning experiences supported through almost $5 million in grants from the National Science Foundation (#ESI-0624591 and DRL-0833403), the NASA Summer of Innovation, and 4-H. These learning experiences will serve as the core content for the 4-H Robotics digital badging system for youth ages 9 to 18.

Christine Chow and Nate Otto Open Badges allow new practices of interacting with personal credentials. Students who are new to badges may also be new to using traditional credentials to present their accomplishments or qualifications and unsure how to leverage…

The Providence After School Alliance (PASA) partners with after school and extracurricular programs to offer quality learning experiences to middle and high school students. In their DML Proposal, PASA described their mission “to expand and improve quality afterschool, summer, and other expanded learning opportunities for the youth of Providence by organizing a sustainable public/private system that contributes to student success and serves as a national model” (Stage 1 DML Proposal). Specifically, PASA supports the operations and infrastructure of the local AfterZone network of organizations that administer learning experiences to middle school student and a similar network of organizations offering programs to high schoolers that includes a social and discovery-based website called The Hub.

A Hewlett Foundation and Gates Foundation Project Mastery grantee, the non-profit organization Asia Society collaborated with ShowEvidence to develop Pathways to Global Competence. This is a proficiency-based badging system for high school students. The project aimed to engage learners in “powerful, relevant, and self-directed [ways] as they master skills and knowledge enabling them to develop their identity as a global youth leader” (HASTAC). The badging effort aimed to expand students’ cross-cultural knowledge and enhance their understanding of global issues.

On June 4th, Christine Chow and Nate Otto of the DPD Project joined Paul Allison’s “Teachers Teaching Teachers” webinar series to discuss their recent case study on establishing the value of badges for earners. Representatives of two projects we studied…

Regardless of where you start, it’s more than likely you’ll end up somewhere other than your intended destination. That’s okay. Systems are living things, and your badge system needs to be flexible. You must embrace a bit of chaos in its design.
-Carla Casilli, Director of Design + Practice at the Badge Alliance